Pride Parade floats are damaged, but large crowd turns out after New York, Illinois recognized gay couples

June 26, 2011|By Dan Hinkel, Tribune reporter

Sunday started with the disturbing news that vandals had slashed the tires of dozens of parade floats, but anguish gave way to exuberance as massive crowds packed Halsted Street to celebrate Chicago's 42nd annual Pride Parade.

While the parade entries embodied the usual mix of politics, fellowship, commerce and unbridled sexuality, organizers and veterans of past parades said they had never seen crowds so large. City officials estimated attendance at roughly 750,000, said Roderick Drew of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Last year's attendance was estimated at about 500,000, parade coordinator Richard Pfeiffer said.

Organizers attributed the attendance to the perfect weather, as well as the passage of a gay marriage bill Friday in New York and the recent institution of civil unions in Illinois.

"There's a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and excitement," said Marcus Brady, chairman of the board for the Center on Halsted

Though parade-goers voiced near universal approval for civil unions in Illinois, they said they still hope the state will grant their relationships the same status given to straight couples.

Together for nine years, Sherell Edgerson and Shawn Phillips, of the Rogers Park neighborhood, illustrated the sentiment. Asked if they were pleased with civil unions, they answered simultaneously, "Yeah, but it's not marriage."

By afternoon, attendees — ranging from toddlers clutching parents' hands to young women in angel wings and sequined hot pants — betrayed no sign of the frustration that marked the morning.

Vandals slashed the tires of 51 floats late Saturday or early Sunday as they sat stored in the 4800 block of South Halsted Street, said Chuck Huser, owner of Associated Attractions Enterprises Inc., a float-building company. Seventy-three floats were registered for the parade, said Pfeiffer, the parade coordinator.

Huser's employees scrambled, fixing 48 floats by late morning or early afternoon, though Huser didn't know if all of them made it to the parade in time.

Before she stepped off from the corner of Halsted and Belmont Avenue, openly gay Democratic state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, whose float was damaged, noted that the first pride march didn't feature extravagant floats.

"It doesn't have to be fancy," she said. "We're going to pick up our banner and we're going to show our pride."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel led the parade. Dressed down in tennis shoes and black shades, Emanuel drew wild cheers as he high-fived a little girl and hoisted a small boy over the metal barricade for a kiss on the cheek.

Behind Emanuel was a kaleidoscopic collection of politicians, teachers, motorcyclists, drag queens and librarians, among many others. Families and longtime couples took in the parade from lawn chairs on the sidewalk while teenagers and young adults stumbled through the alleys shouting and flirting.

Chicago police reported no serious incidents at the parade.

Observing the mix of partying and politics, Gil Collazo, 28, of Chicago, said young people pack Halsted each year to be themselves in a judgment-free atmosphere.

"You can hold hands. You can show your personality," he said.

Surrounded by long-term couples on the roof of the Center on Halsted, Phil Burgess, of Chicago, said the unabashed sexuality on display at the parade can obscure the monogamous couples who only seek equality. He plans to be united by civil union to his partner, Jim Nutter, this summer.